This was (and probably still is for all I know) prevalent on the Current Events board on GameFAQs. Every day you'd see at least a couple "post here and I'll rate you" or variations thereof. What makes people so desperately want to receive replies in their topic?
"Rate my winamp playlist", "rate my desktop", and so on..
We're looking for someone to relate to, aren't we? We're looking for that one person to say "Yeah, I like band x too".
We're looking for confirmation that our voice is heard. Because being alone, isolated, is the worst thing we can imagine.
When my 'net connection goes down, I fight back a wave of panic and calmly, methodically troubleshoot the situation, locating the cause and trying to figure out what needs to be done to restore my beloved broadband. If it's something outside of my power to fix, I just sit there and cry. (then I remember that I have lots of unwatched anime on my HD and get to it)
I don't know when or why this change occurred in me. When I was a kid, I was quite content being alone. But now, being alone.. I can't handle it. If I didn't have my cat, I'd surely go insane. And sleep better at night, never being woken up at 5 AM.
What is it that pulls us together, that makes us want to be friends, when our geographic locations are scattered across the globe?
For most recent additions to my friendslist, it's the fandom. I recognize my need to have someone to relate to, to obsess together over our favorite characters, discuss the deeper meaning of words and events in a fictional world.
Then there are people that interest me when we barely have a common interests at all. We can relate to each other as fellow human beings.
So anyway, here's a welcome aboard to everyone I've friended since I started using Semagic. Some of the dates may be inaccurate because Semagic logs the time the change is detected (which is checked for manually) - and I didn't check it very often back then.
You make the cutest kitty hats ever. And you seem like a really nice person.. That's about what I can say so far, since I don't really know you at all.
Judging by listed LJ interests, we have only general interests in common; anime, books, chocolate and sleeping. But I relate to much of what you write. By the way, the first time I wanted to comment in your LJ was when you went to vote. I wanted to cheer you on and thank you for taking the time to vote. So, here's a belated thanks.
And that's as far back as Semagic has logged. Everyone friended before that point are all people I know from GameFAQs and/or #asr.
And now this goes into my Memories so I can look at it a year from now and see how many of you are still here.